Snake Concubine

Darkness.

Li Fan opened a door and found himself back in the hall of the Prison of Suppression.

The towering stone stele stood silent in the middle of the hall. The entire Prison of Suppression was shrouded in darkness, lit only by a faint red glow from somewhere unknown.

"Click."

Li Fan flicked on his windproof lighter. Its blood-red glow illuminated the surroundings as he carefully surveyed the place.

Though he had become the Lord of the Prison of Suppression, he was still completely at a loss.

He felt no connection to this place at all.

Holding up the lighter, he circled the stele once to make sure there was nothing to pick up, then headed toward the cells.

This place looked exactly like the prison Li Fan had imagined.

Rows of cold cells stood in imposing silence.

They were all shrouded in an indescribable darkness.

Li Fan felt a chill creep over him.

It was far too quiet.

But the moment the thought crossed his mind, he heard faint whispers coming from some of the cells around him.

As if strange creatures were whispering in the dark.

That only made Li Fan more afraid.

Couldn't they play some normal sounds for once?

Maybe he should bring a speaker next time.

As he thought about it, he passed a row of empty cells and reached the one where the Tiger Pillar God was being held.

He opened the observation hatch. The Tiger Pillar God was crouched inside like a dog. When it saw Li Fan, it instinctively panicked and scrambled toward the corner.

Then it suddenly seemed to remember something. It wagged its crocodile tail at Li Fan, a fawning smile spreading across its fearsome tiger face.

It looked even more like a dog now.

Li Fan gently shook the Tiger Pillar God's chains to show him there was no need to be afraid. He should be a good dog.

The Tiger Pillar God immediately started excitedly circling the cell, apparently delighted by Li Fan's approval.

It didn't seem very smart.

It probably only had animal-level intelligence.

Still, remembering how vicious it had once been, Li Fan didn't dare let his guard down.

He could borrow its power while it was locked in the cell, but who knew what might happen if he let it out?

After circling a few times and performing a few tricks—shaking hands and sitting—the Tiger Pillar God sent Li Fan a thought, asking for the Spider-Legged Monster's corpse from the neighboring cell.

Li Fan snorted.

"You wretch, getting greedy, are you?"

The Tiger Pillar God immediately flattened itself on the floor, trembling and wagging its tail furiously. It didn't dare ask for anything else.

Li Fan's taut nerves relaxed a little.

Good, good. The Tiger Pillar God was still obedient.

Maybe he could try opening the cell and letting it out to serve as a guard dog. Otherwise, he was all alone in the dark, frightening Prison of Suppression and too scared to wander around.

At the next cell, he opened the observation hatch and took a look. The Spider-Legged Monster was lying inside.

The pale corpse no longer contained any Human-Faced Snakes. All that remained was the huge mouth formed by its split breastbone, the strange head inside it, and its spider-like legs.

Without the swarm of snakes that triggered his trypophobia, it looked like an ordinary anomalous infected.

It was about as frightening as the Amalgams he had dissected before.

Bronze chains pierced the Spider-Legged Monster's body too. One end passed through the cell's metal door and dangled in front of Li Fan.

Was it really dead?

And why did the Prison of Suppression imprison corpses?

As he wondered, Li Fan gently took hold of the bronze chain and shook it.

The Spider-Legged Monster's corpse, which had been completely still, suddenly shuddered, but otherwise barely moved.

Li Fan raised an eyebrow. Playing dead?

He'd found it pretty unsettling before, and it had scared him a little, but now it was locked in a cell, and those snakes that triggered his trypophobia were gone. What the hell was it still pretending for?

He grabbed the bronze chain and yanked hard.

The advantage of being the Lord of the Prison of Suppression immediately became clear. A tremendous force surged through the bronze chain, dragging the Spider-Legged Monster off the ground and slamming it against the inside of the cell door with a thunderous crash.

The Spider-Legged Monster dared not play dead anymore. The head on its neck kept its eyes tightly shut, but the head growing from its chest opened its eyes, filled with shock and terror. In a weak voice, it begged for mercy.

"My lord, please forgive me. I didn't know you were that lord. I never would have dared offend you otherwise... Please forgive me... Please forgive me..."

It then knelt on the floor and knocked its head against it again and again, as if it would crack its dried-up brains open.

You can talk?

Li Fan's eyes lit up, then he froze.

That lord?

Was the Collector that famous in the anomalous world?

Did even ghosts fear him?

With no time to think it over, he grabbed the bronze chain and spoke in a hoarse, low voice.

"Where did you come from?"

Tell me your story.

The Spider-Legged Monster immediately opened its mind completely, allowing Li Fan to take whatever he wanted.

The scene in Li Fan's consciousness shifted. He was now inside a movie theater.

The Silver Glow Cinema in the center of Gu City.

At midnight tonight, The Legend of the Dian King would premiere.

The cast and the entire crew had chosen the Silver Glow Cinema as the venue for the premiere.

The most excited person on the crew was actually the young cinematographer.

He had kept his camera with him the entire time, and most often pointed it at the leading lady of The Legend of the Dian King—the "Snake Concubine" in the film.

According to the story of The Legend of the Dian King, the fictional King Dian Li had a concubine with a slender waist like a snake, known as the "Snake Concubine."

During the filming, the cinematographer had quietly fallen for the young woman playing Snake Concubine.

But he could only bury those feelings deep in his heart.

He knew that after tonight's premiere, the young woman, who was still a newcomer, would become a rising star.

The gap between him, a mere cinematographer, and her would only grow wider, until she was beyond his reach.

They would become people from two different worlds.

But it didn't matter. Knowing his camera had played a part in her brilliant future was enough for him.

All he wanted now was to capture as much of Snake Concubine's beauty as he could through his lens.

Snake Concubine, Snake Concubine...

The crew waited anxiously for midnight to arrive, but the cinematographer wished time would pass more slowly—much more slowly.

Suddenly, he heard a hissing sound from beneath the ground, like a swarm of snakes flicking their tongues.

"Do you want... to possess... Snake Concubine?"

The cinematographer thought he was imagining it and shook his head, but the voice continued.

Then he saw the young woman get up, leave the lounge, and walk into a darkened area.

He hurried after her, but couldn't find her anywhere. The hissing voice was still coming from somewhere ahead.

Do you want to possess Snake Concubine?

Following the sound, he walked on as if in a trance, passing through several corridors until he found himself in the basement of the Silver Glow Cinema.

At the end of the basement was a huge pit where construction was underway, its soil and rocks freshly excavated.

Snake Concubine was buried in that earth...

He had to dig her out...

In a daze, the cinematographer jumped into the pit and dug through the hard soil with his bare hands until they were covered in blood.

Above him, the premiere preparations continued in a frenzy. Many fans had already arrived at the cinema, calling out Snake Concubine's name and hoping to catch a glimpse of her.

The cinematographer could even hear their cries, faintly.

At last, he dug a bone out of the earth.

It was a human facial bone.

This was Snake Concubine.

The cinematographer went mad. He cut open his own chest with a knife and forcefully stuffed the bone inside.

The bone sucked up the cinematographer's blood, sprouting fleshy roots that quickly grew until they formed a complete head nestled inside his chest.

One by one, tiny Human-Faced Snakes crawled out of the pit, then quickly burrowed into the cinematographer's body.

As if they were crawling into a nest...